Former Paraguayan president and current leader of the Colorado Party, Horacio Cartes, has once again obtained a visa to travel to the United States. The restoration of the document comes months after the lifting of financial sanctions imposed against him and his companies by the U.S. government.
The confirmation was made by businessman José Ortiz, president of Tabacalera del Este (Tabesa) and a close collaborator of Cartes, who stated the visa was granted without issue. Ortiz declared that the former president intends to travel to watch the final stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is being hosted in the United States.
The information about the new visa was also previously reported by journalist Mina Feliciángeli on her radio program. According to sources, the immigration authorization was restored following the complete revocation of sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, in October 2025.
Cartes had been placed on the sanctions list in January 2023, accused of acts of corruption before, during, and after his presidency. The allegations included claims of payments to legislators to influence political decisions. The resolution lifting the restrictions was signed by Andrea Gacki, the same OFAC official who had originally implemented the sanctions, concluding that the conditions that prompted them no longer persisted.
With this measure, Cartes was removed from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List and is also no longer considered "significantly corrupt" by the U.S. Department of State, which enabled him to apply for the visa.